We told you about the recent release of Alfred 1.0, the popular app launcher tool for the Mac. The developers from Running with Crayons have created a robust, sleek, Apple-like tool for controlling nearly every facet of your Mac.

Most Alfred users understand how to open apps and files, but there are many things Alfred can do that may surprise you. The recent versions of Alfred support third-party extensions, and that opens up the door to all kinds of possibilities.

Disclaimer: Most of these tips, including all of the extensions, require the Alfred Powerpack, which can be purchased for around $20. If you want the most out of Alfred, you need the Powerpack.

Here are 5 awesome things you can do with Alfred on your Mac:

1. Launch Groups Of Apps And Files

Powerpack users can create “File or Group” folders in the Extensions section of Alfred to launch a set of apps/files with one shortcut. This is a great tip if you have a certain set of apps and/or files that you use when you’re in a certain state of mind, whether it be working or relaxing.

Click the little “+” icon in the Extensions section and add a “File or Group” folder. Enter in your information to create the folder and set your shortcut and add your apps/files. Once you set a group of apps for when you’re working, you just have to type something like “wwork” into Alfred to launch all associated apps and files simultaneously.

When you’re adding files and apps to your folder list in the Extensions section, you can actually search for them in Alfred and drag them out of the search window into the Extensions folder you’re working on.

2. Tweet

Thanks to a handy extension by David Ferguson, you can tweet with Alfred. David’s free extension, AlfredTweet, allows you to easily authenticate with Twitter on your Mac and send tweets by typing them into Alfred. There’s a list of commands that help you control your Twitter experience, including the ability to DM and follow users with quick shortcuts.

3. Control Spotify

The built-in iTunes Mini Player in Alfred works well, but Spotify users can also take advantage of Jeffry John’s extension for getting volume, track, artist and song information from their Spotify library in Alfred. You’ll obviously need the Spotify Mac app installed.

4. Interact With Productivity Apps

There are multiple extensions for Alfred that allow you to interact with popular productivity apps for the Mac, including Evernote, Wunderlist, Things, Yojimbo, Toodledo, Remember the Milk, and OmniFocus.

Kristian Hellquist has created a free extension for Powerpack users that integrates with Evernote to let users search and create notes with Alfred. You can even add tags at the end of your notes to help organize. RebootIT also has an extension for searching notes in Evernote available on his website.

Alfred’s own Andrew Pepperrell has created an extension for the popular productivity app called Things. With full support for the Things plugin syntax, users can interact with different Projects, Areas, and even due dates when adding tasks with Alfred. You can download the Things for Alfred extension from Andrew’s website.

If you wish that you could just use Alfred to manage your tasks, then you’re in luck! David Ferguson has also created a beautiful Alfred To-Do List extension that uses Growl to let you simply add and display your tasks.

Conclusion

There’s so much more to Alfred than what’s mentioned above. You can run AppleScripts and Automater workflows, look inside your files, create custom web triggers, shorten URLs with bit.ly, translate text with Google, sync your preferences between computers with Dropbox, and much, much more. We’ve simply scratched the surface.

Thanks for the info. I installed Alfred two weeks ago and never touched it. Good reason to give it a shot.

ChampagneBob

can Alfred open a group of documents and print them automatically?

Bruce

No, just dating. Friend of a friend told me.

Mystakill

Change your Spotlight shortcut so that it invokes Alfred instead, and you’ll soon be wondering how you got along without it :)

aegides

good one

About the author

Alex Heath is a journalist and co-host of The CultCast who lives in Lexington, Kentucky . He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like "ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation." If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Twitter always works too.

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